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Chinese shares slip 0.85% on financials, resources

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-21 15:53

Chinese shares fell 0.85 percent on Tuesday dragged down by financial, coal and metal stocks.

Market performance was also affected by a Wall Street overnight plunge, analysts said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.85 percent to close at 2,535.83 points. The Shenzhen Component Index dropped 1.56 percent to 9.640.90 points.

Losses outnumbered gains by 431 to 358 in Shanghai and 406 to 275 in Shenzhen.

Related readings:  Wall Street sinks as investors dump banks  Hong Kong stocks close 2.95% lower  Chinese shares up 2.14% on confidence booming  China to restart new stock issuance after reform

Combined turnover was 243.76 billion yuan ($35.67 billion), compared with the previous trading day's 222 billion yuan.

On Wall Street, major indexes fell sharply Monday, as investors questioned banks' seemingly better-than-expected first quarter profit reports, and sold financial stocks to lock in profits from a strong six-week rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 3.56 percent to 7,841.73, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.28 percent to 832.39.

Financial stocks led the fall as investors' confidence was affected by Wall Street worries about the health of the banking industry. Southwest Securities dropped 4.47 percent to 14.53 yuan. Shanghai-based Bank of Communication closed at 6.78 yuan, down 2.45 percent.

Coal shares fell across the board. The industry has been faced with increasing pressure of price drops amid market digest of steel stock piles.

Stocks of Xishan Coal and Electricity Power Co based in coal-rich Shanxi Province was down 4.84 percent to end at 21.65 yuan. Shanxi Guoyang New Energy Co., another coal producer in the region, lost 5.33 percent to 20.42 yuan.

Stocks for nonferrous metal dropped on profit taking. Shares of Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-earth Hi-tech fell 5.39 percent to 19.5 yuan. Jiangxi Copper Company, a major copper producer in China, was down 3.54 percent to end at 24.5 yuan.